Friday government advances St Vincent and the Grenadines CBI launch despite US and EU pressure

Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Prime Minister Goodwin Friday’s New Democratic Party government is advancing plans to launch a Citizenship by Investment programme in 2026, IMI Daily reported, placing the initiative against the most hostile international environment any Caribbean CBI launch has faced in the programme’s history. The decision marks a sharp policy break from the Gonsalves-era Unity Labour Party, which had publicly rejected CBI throughout its 24 years in office.

The political context is consequential. The US has suspended visa processing for Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica over their CBI operations. The European Union has issued its most serious CBI warning yet, telling Caribbean programmes to work toward discontinuation or face visa-waiver suspension. Launching into that environment is a calculated bet that the diaspora and high-net-worth demand for Caribbean citizenship is durable enough to absorb both regimes’ pressure, and that St Vincent can position its programme — at launch — as already meeting the due diligence standards the US and EU are demanding from existing programmes.

Eu-Pressure on The Tradewinds Brief

Friday government advances St Vincent and the Grenadines CBI launch despite US and EU pressure